It looks more like game on with each passing day at Alpine Meadows. Summit opened right on schedule today and we once again had much more terrain to explore and just more room to move around. Gone were the bitter cold and harsh east winds of the last two days. Temperatures rose to the lower 40’s today and winds remained calm until late afternoon. We even saw some skiers in t-shirts and shirtless.
The east winds definitely did a number on the upper mountain. Mountain ops did an excellent job maintaining a cat track to access Alpine Bowl and for what it was worth the quality of the ride on the Alpine Bowl groomed run was excellent. We also heard great reports from North Peril, as expected. Fairly heavy traffic quickly turned it into a mogul field. Access into the D Chutes was difficult at best due to wind scouring. Wolverine and the remainder of Alpine Bowl was pretty much wind ravaged. The run of the day according to several people was Sherwood Cliffs, accessed by the super long traverse from Terry’s Return.
Lower on the mountain, the groomed runs continued to ski well, as they have for the last several days. East Creek/Upper Weasel was finally groomed for today with the opening of Hot Wheels chair. It seemed like grooming was somewhat of an afterthought there. The number of groomer scars and curbs and ruts left behind for mountain beginners and intermediates was definitely a little bit alarming.
Charity and Werners also continued to deliver soft skier packed moguls, which are getting bigger by the day. I’ve had a case of Yellow Fever myself over the last few days. The moguls are also starting to grow there and I will claim responsibility for much of that growth.
It was probably the biggest day of the season so far. Where the real lines were today were for food services. Options are very limited upstairs, making Treats very attractive. It was definitely the longest line at Alpine Meadows today, extending into the breezeway and up the ramp to the stairs at peak lunch time. The lack of food services available by the 11th day of operations is a little strange. Maybe they just expect we will all just hop on a shuttle bus and have a lunch break in the village.
Tomorrow should bring more fair weather, with temperatures even a few degrees warmer than today. Early in the week a cold, but essentially dry, front will move through, bringing back the chill. The GFS runs were getting more consistent in bringing the next real storm in by Thursday, extending into Saturday. There will be plenty of moisture with an atmospheric river like flow. Snow levels are the big question here. The models could bring moisture from the deep tropics like a true Pineapple Express, so we should expect to see snow levels near 7000 feet or higher. That would mean new snow would be more of a cement than powder – which is just what is needed to open more terrain at Alpine Meadows. With this storm now only 5 days out, we’re hoping to see more model consistency and less flip flopping…we’ll stay tuned!
